In the Global Awareness Lesson, the candidate will develop a global project for the classroom. I opted to create a year-long activity I call Project 1ETC. Project 1ETC will form a collaborative community of schools representing a broad range of regions and cultures around the world. We will exchange ideas, e-mails, postal packages, poetry, and art. We will jointly create our Project 1ETC website. At the conclusion of the school year, we will hold an international children’s art auction where we will raise money to help people in less fortunate circumstances.
Process
In order to begin tackling this assignment, I first needed to peruse the various web resources provided by the instructor. After several hours of perusal, I decided on epals.com Having never used epals.com before, I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of teacher-submitted projects and lesson plans. After nearly an hour browsing through the ones I thought might tie into my curriculum, I was torn between two ideas: The Way We Are, an ePal-featured idea, and Bill Reilly's The Global Coalition. After a couple hours swapping my attention between Delaware's Social Studies standards, Microsoft Word (where I was attempting to write something equivalent to a coherent lesson plan and synopsis for my version of this project), and editing, I emerged with what I call Project 1ETC (One Earth, One Thought, One Community).
Reflection
I am looking forward to implementing this lesson at the start of the next school year. The other grade-level members of my department have expressed an interest in being part of the project, as well. We have already begun brainstorming the possible curricular links that could and should be made so that this activity meshes smoothly with the curriculum in place and feels like a natural extension of it. As I did the research for this lesson, I based many of my design components off Bill Reilly’s The Global Coalition project. While the curriculum of New York is obviously different, there are still many similarities that make this lesson appealing for Delaware-based Social Studies teachers. I was inspired by the work and effort the students of Mr. Reilly invested in their version of the project. The activity appears to be very engaging for learners, both with regard to the 21st century technology skills and the state-mandated Social Studies standards.
Global Awareness Lesson
Lesson Plan URL:
Project Description
In the Global Awareness Lesson, the candidate will develop a global project for the classroom. I opted to create a year-long activity I call Project 1ETC. Project 1ETC will form a collaborative community of schools representing a broad range of regions and cultures around the world. We will exchange ideas, e-mails, postal packages, poetry, and art. We will jointly create our Project 1ETC website. At the conclusion of the school year, we will hold an international children’s art auction where we will raise money to help people in less fortunate circumstances.
Process
In order to begin tackling this assignment, I first needed to peruse the various web resources provided by the instructor. After several hours of perusal, I decided on epals.com Having never used epals.com before, I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of teacher-submitted projects and lesson plans. After nearly an hour browsing through the ones I thought might tie into my curriculum, I was torn between two ideas: The Way We Are, an ePal-featured idea, and Bill Reilly's The Global Coalition. After a couple hours swapping my attention between Delaware's Social Studies standards, Microsoft Word (where I was attempting to write something equivalent to a coherent lesson plan and synopsis for my version of this project), and editing, I emerged with what I call Project 1ETC (One Earth, One Thought, One Community).
Reflection
I am looking forward to implementing this lesson at the start of the next school year. The other grade-level members of my department have expressed an interest in being part of the project, as well. We have already begun brainstorming the possible curricular links that could and should be made so that this activity meshes smoothly with the curriculum in place and feels like a natural extension of it. As I did the research for this lesson, I based many of my design components off Bill Reilly’s The Global Coalition project. While the curriculum of New York is obviously different, there are still many similarities that make this lesson appealing for Delaware-based Social Studies teachers. I was inspired by the work and effort the students of Mr. Reilly invested in their version of the project. The activity appears to be very engaging for learners, both with regard to the 21st century technology skills and the state-mandated Social Studies standards.
Works Cited
See lesson plan for list of references.